Archives for History - Page 6
The Nazi Hunters by Damien Lewis [Book Review]
The Nazi Hunters by Damien Lewis My rating: 4 of 5 stars A very well researched account, with a lot of detail on the SAS operations in the Vosges. While it does cover the post-war war crimes investigations most of the book is actually about the period leading to the war crimes. This is very interesting, and shows how they were operating and why so many SAS soldiers ended up in enemy hands. It also sort of explains the personal nature of the SAS War Crimes Unit's all consuming involvement in hunting down the perpetrators. The Nazi Hunters The defendants at the Nuremberg War Crime Trial in Nuremberg, Germany (Photo credit: Wikipedia) The Nazi Hunters is well researched, but it's wrapped in a little hyperbole about it being a previously untold and largely unknown story. During WW2 Hitler issued an…
Henley Fort WW2 Experience with Year 6
I went to Henley Fort with my son's Year 6 class earlier today. Year 6 at Furzefield Primary School are just finishing their WW2 history module, they've studied WW2 since September. So today was a WW2 experience for them all to get a practical feel for what it was like being a member of the Home Guard or an ARP Warden. Henley Fort do both, and we split into two groups and had an hour and a half taster of each one. About Henley Fort Henley Fort is one of the outer London defences built in the late 19th Century, similar to Reigate Fort. It's up the hill behind the city centre in Guildford. The Forts were originally built as mobilisation centres, and artillery batteries, if the UK was invaded. They saw a bit of a revamp during WW1 and…
New Bookshelf – Bookshelves Abound = #Shelfie 06
The Bookshelves Abound series continues with the New Bookshelf. This one of the five bookshelves on the upstairs landing. It sits between the Academic Bookshelf and my Writer's Bookshelf. New Bookshelf the new bookshelf, where the new (to me) books go awaiting their turn to be read (or shelved elsewhere). The New Bookshelf is where I put all my new books when I first acquire them. It's perhaps the most overloaded Games The top two shelves of the new bookshelf has board games on it. Some of these are very old, I started playing Panzer Blitz & Panzer Leader when I was at university (1989-92). Most of the others have been acquired in 1990s, although there are some recent acquisitions, notably Shogun and Settlers of Catan. Periodicals There are two journals on these shelves. The one that you can see most…
Gestapo by Lucas Saul [Book Review]
Gestapo by Lucas Saul My rating: 2 of 5 stars Gestapo by Lucas Saul is a reasonable summary overview of the Gestapo, but didn't quite have enough detail for me. If you didn't know anything about the Gestapo before then it might be an OK place to start, although wikipedia would be cheaper. Gestapo by Lucas Saul Gestapo by Lucas Saul doesn't quite live up to the promise of the blurb. What I was hoping for was some analysis of how the Gestapo was formed, where its staff came from and why they joined up. Plaque on former gestapo and communist secret police building, Łódź 7 Anstadta Street (Photo credit: Wikipedia) What you get with this book is a rough chronological history of the Gestapo, and their involvement in the atrocities commited by the nazi state. You also get a series of dramatis…
History Bookshelf – Bookshelves Abound = #Shelfie 02
The History Bookshelf sits next to the Fiction Bookshelf. You can just see it alongside in the photo. Like the Fiction Bookshelf the History Bookshelf is second of the five identical Ikea bookshelves to feature in my Shelfies. History Bookshelf The History Bookshelf, one of five Ikea bookcases This is not the only bookshelf containing history books, most of my bookcases have some history on them. The reason that I've called this one the History Bookshelf is that it has a mixture of themes on it. Most of it is WW2 history, but there are other periods too. The top shelf has a mixture of POW stories, from both British and German points of view. It also has Blitz and National Fire Service histories. There are a handful of other home front books across the history bookshelf too. Further down there is a…